THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 75 



Still it is not the profpect that pleafes, for the whole 

 ground that is fown to the fandy afcent of the mountains, 

 is but a narrow ftripe of three quarters of a mile broad, and 

 the mountains themfelves, which here begin to have a mo- 

 derate degree of elevation, and which bound this narrow 

 ^valley, are white, gritty, fandy, and uneven, and perfectly 

 deHitute of all manner of verdure. 



At the fmali village of Racca Seguier there was this 

 remarkable, that it was thick, furrounded with trees of a 

 different nature and figure from palms ; what they were 

 I know not, I believe they were pomegranate-trees ; I thought, 

 that with my glafs I difcerned fome reddiih fruit upon 

 them ; and we had pafFed a village called Rhoda, a name 

 they give in Egypt to pomegranates ; Saleah is on the op- 

 posite, or eaft-fide of the river. The Nile divides above the 

 village ; it fell very calm, and here we paired the night of 

 the fifteenth. - 



Our Rais Abou Cuffi "begged leave to go to Comadreedy, 

 -a fmall village on the well of the Nile, with a few palm- 

 trees about it ; he faid that his wife was there. As I never 

 heard any thing of this till now, I fancied he was going 

 to divert himfelf in the manner he had done the night be- 

 fore he left Cairo ; for he had put on his black furtout, or 

 great coat, his fcarlet turban, and a new fcarlet maul, both 

 of which he faid he had brought, to do me honour in my 

 voyage. 



I thanked him much for his confideration, but afked 

 him why, as he was a SherriiFe, he did not wear the green 

 turban of Mahomet ? He anfwered, Poh ! that was a trick 



K 2 put 



